Mirror frame door



April 10, 1934. s. PIKER 1,954,225

MIRROR FRAME DOOR Filed Sept. 16, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 z zz j 13 ('3 Ii i 23 A. \U M ATTORNEY.

S. PIKER MIRROR FRAME DOOR- April 10, 1934.

Filed Sept. 16, 1932. 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 VENTOR. BY MM ATTORNEY.

Patented Apr. 3, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application September16, 1932, Serial No. 633,494

Claims.

My invention relates to doors for bathroom cabinets, surgical cabinetsand the like, in which the door has a mirror mounted in it which may beopened to expose the interior of the cabinet. The door, when closed, hasthe appearance of an ordinary mirror in a shallow frame, but in realitycomprises a hinged door for the cabinet which may readily be swung openfor access to the cabinet. I 7

It has heretofore been the practice in the manufacture of cabinet doorsof this type, to form the door and then to place a mirror on the outsidesurface of the door. This construction has been necessary in order togive the back of the door an even and pleasing appearance, since it isexposed to view when the door is opened. The above construction has beenexpensive, and usually results in a very bulky door, or a door with avery unsightly back. The above is especially true of doors made of sheetmetal, of

which my novel door is constructed.

Another disadvantage of the doors heretofore constructed is that if themirror becomes broken it is necessary to replace the whole cabinet doorin order to obtain a new mirror door, or to take the door off of thecabinet and to dismantle it andbuild it completely over containing a newmirror. This cannot be doneby the ordinary householder, and usuallynecessitates the return 'of the whole cabinet, or at least the door, tothe factory for rebuilding.

It is anobject of my invention to provide a cabinet door composed ofsheet metal, and the method of making the same, which has none of theabovedisadvantages and which may be made very cheaply, and which has amirror covering substantially the entire face. My novel door also has aneat back of balanced and uniform appearance.

It is a further object of my invention to provide a cabinet door, andthe method of making the same, with all of the aforesaid advantages, andin which the mirror, if it becomes broken, may be readily removed fromthe door,

-* and a new one inserted in its place, without the necessity ofremovingthe door from the cabinet,or in any way dismantling the cabinet.

A further object of my invention is to provide a cabinet door and themethod of making it, which shall be substantially composed of a singleblank with the back portion integral with the frame portion, and inwhich the use of solder, welding or any similar binding material oroperation is unnecessary, except for the attachment of the hinge and thelatch to the door.

These and other objects of my invention which will be set forthhereinafter or will be apparent to one skilled in the art upon readingthese specifications, I accomplish by that certain construction andarrangement of parts of which I Figure 3 is a plan view of theremovablextop edge blank.

Figure 4 is a perspective of thehinge, with part cut away to conservespace.

Figure 5 is a front perspective of the .door with the mirror partlyremoved. and showing :the removable edge piece removed. Part of thisfigure is cut away to conserve space.

Figure 6 is a back perspective of the assembled door.

Figure 7 is a section of Figure 6 .takenalong the section line 7--"(.

Figure 8 is a section of Figure 5 taken along the section line 88.

In the practice of my invention I provide a metal blank 1 composed ofsheet'metal or-any similar material, with side and top and bottom edgeportions 2,3, 4, and 5 outlining the size .of the finished door.Integral with the surface having the edge portions 2, 3, 4, and 5are'thethree side pieces 6, 7, and 8, and contiguous withthese sidepieces are the front frame or edge pieces 9, 10 and 11. Contiguous withthe fourth sidex2, 3, of the blank are two projecting earsl2 andl3'. Theends ofthe front edges are beveled as at 14 and have circular cutoutportions 15, so as to present a curved corner in the finished door. .Thethree side pieces are all of the same width, which is slightly greaterthan the thickness of themirror 15 itself. There is a second blank 16with the side piece 17 of thesame lengthasthe side piece '7 on the otherblank. Integral withthis side piece 17 there is the front edging l8, andintegral with this side piece 1'7, but on the opposite side from thefront edging, is the supplemental back wall 19. There are twoslits.20.and 21 cut in the side piece 17 and so positioned thatztheywill register with the two cars 12 and 13. This blank 16 represents theremovable side piece and front edging for the fourth side. On the backwall there is the depression 22, 23 of such a Width that the distancefrom the inner edge of the depression to the edge of theblanki. e.,22-4-2 is equal to the width 24-25 of thesupplemental back wall 19, andof a depth equal to the gauge of the metal sheet. There. mayalsolbe-aidepression 23, 26, on the back wall to acconnnodatethe hinge27 (Fig. 4) so as to present an.even-sur-,

face when this hinge is in place, and whenlthe supplemental back wall 19is in position. The end of the supplemental back wall 19 may be beveledas at 28, and also the end of the hinge piece as at 29, so that theywill register with each other.

gut

. pearance.

The hinge 27 is of the ordinary strip type and composed of the samematerial as the blanks, having a length equal to the side 3-4 of theback wall.

In forming and assembling my invention, the side pieces 6, '7 and 8 arebent perpendicular to the back portion 2, 3, 4, 5, and the three frontedges 9, 10, and ill are bent inward and perpendicular to thesidejpieces and parallel to the back wall, giving the' appearance asillustrated in Figure 5. The blank 16' has the front edge 18 and thesupplemental back wall 19 bent parallel to each other and perpendicularto the plane of web 17, and both projecting in the same direction fromthe web 17. The hinge piece 2'? is fastened on the back of the back wall2, 3, 4, 5, in the depression 2326 as in Figure 6. In my preferredembodiment this fastening is done by spot welding as at 30. A latch 31may be spot welded on the back of the back wall on the opposite sidefrom the hinge. This latch 31 in my preferred embodiment is in the formof a projecting spring adapted to keep my cabinet door closed byfriction with the cabinet frame.

In assembling my door the'mirror 15 is slipped into the frame formedfrom my blank 1 through the fourth side, which does not have a sidepiece or front edge. After the mirror has been slid in, the piece formedfrom the blank 16 is placed in position by slipping the piece over thefourth edge 23 of the door in such a manner that the ears 12, 13, willslip through the slits 20, 21, and the supplemental wall portion 19 willregister in the depression 22, 28, and against the bevel 29 of the hinge27. The ears l2, 13, are now bent toward merely incidental and wellknown in the art. My

mirror door may now be swung on its hinge on the front of a cabinet, andit will give a very pleasing appearance to the back as well as to thefront.

. I wish particularly to call attention to the cheapness of constructionincident to my invention. The whole of my door frame is made out of asingle gauge of sheet metal, and in reality consists of only two blanks.These blanks may .be cheaply and easily pressed out of ordinary cheapsheet stock. The hinge and the latch may be made from the same stock,and the only welding or fastening necessary is the attaching of thehinge and the latch. If the mirror in my invention should become broken,it is only necessary to remove the removable piece made from the blank16 by bending back the two ears l2.

and 13, and then sliding out the broken mirror and inserting a new onein its place. It will not be necessary to remove the door from thecabinet,

or to in any way dissemble the cabinet itself. The portions 15 on theends of the front edging come together in the finished product, andpresent curved corners which are very pleasing in ap- It is notnecessary to fasten the corners in any way, since the natural stiffnessof the metal will keep them in position. The back of my door gives aneven appearance, since the hinge and the supplemental back wall are sunkinto the back wall itself.

It is to be understood that different forms of my preferred form may bemade without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a metal frame door, the combination of a flat four-sided back,three upwardly projecting side pieces integral with three sides of saidback, three relatively narrow front pieces integral with said sidepieces and projecting at right angles therewith, a plurality of earsprojecting from and integral with the fourth side of said back, aremovable side and front piece integral with a narrow supplemental backpiece, said removable side piece containing slits registering with saidears and positioned on said fourth side of said back in such a mannerthat said supplemental back piece lies over said back piece, and saidears being bent over said fourth side piece, so as to hold saidremovable side piece in position relative to said back piece, said backpiece having a depression to accommodate said supplemental back piece soas to present a uniform smooth surface.

2. In a metal cabinet door, the combination of a mirror, a frametherefor comprising a back, three sides and front edges integral withsaid back, the fourth side being open, a separate piece constituting afourth side and front edge and supplemental back, and means forattaching said fourth side and front edge and supplemental back to saidback, said back having a depression of a depth equal to the gauge of themetal to accommodate said supplemental back.

3. In a metal frame door, the combination of a back, three sides andrelatively narrow front pieces integral therewith, a fourth side andfront piece and supplemental back, said back having a recess of a depthequal to the gauge of the metal to accommodate said supplemental back,and means integral with said back for fastening said fourth side andfront piece and supplemental back onto said back.

4. In a metal frame door, the combination of a back, three sides andrelatively narrow front pieces integral therewith, a fourth side andfront piece and supplemental back, said back having a recess of a depthequal to the gauge of the metal to accommodate said supplemental back,and means integral with said back for fastening said fourth side andfront piece and supplemental back onto said back, said means comprisingat least one projecting ear.

5. In a metal mirror door, the combination of a mirror and a frame, saidframe comprising a back and three sides integral with said back andthree front edges integral with said side pieces, the fourth side havinga depression of a depth equal to the gauge of the metal, a removableside piece comprising a side, a front edge, and a narrow back pieceintegral with said side and said front edge, slits positioned in saidside piece, and projecting ears from said back piece being projectedthrough said slits for the purpose of holding said removable side piecein position relative to said back piece after said mirror has beeninserted in said first mentioned piece, said narrow back piece beingaccommodated by said depression in said back.

SIDNEY PIKER.

